Multi-year cholera vaccine plans will limit stockouts

African countries do not routinely administer oral cholera vaccines and instead request doses from a global stockpile in South Korea during emergencies. This means vaccines are deployed after outbreaks begin.

Floods in several parts of Africa currently worsen the spread of cholera and increase the need for vaccines by multiple countries. This puts pressure on the global stockpile and results in delayed preventive campaigns.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is important to accelerate the transition to multi-year vaccination planning for the oral cholera vaccination campaigns. These plans will improve forecasting of demand and scheduling and allowing countries to request vaccines in advance and reduce delays during outbreaks.

African countries do not routinely administer oral cholera vaccines and instead request doses from a global stockpile established in 2016 by global immunization partners. This means vaccines are deployed after outbreaks begin. Recent floods and ongoing cholera outbreaks in multiple African countries have increased demand for vaccines, putting pressure on limited production capacity and the existing stockpile.

Multi-year vaccination planning enables countries to submit applications that better reflect their population needs and campaign schedules. This structured approach helps national health authorities plan oral cholera vaccine distribution and logistics more accurately. The process includes documenting the number of doses required and proposed campaign timelines to support preventive vaccination efforts across high-risk regions.

The CDC and the Global Task Force for Cholera Control training in Nigeria helped participating African countries improve the quality of oral cholera vaccine applications, including from countries that had not previously submitted requests. Some countries extended the training to sub-national authorities. It also improved the quality of vaccination campaigns.

Better planning reduces sudden surges in orders during outbreaks and provides manufacturers with clearer forecasts of vaccine demand across African countries. This allows for clear production schedules and supply chains and ensures that doses are available when and where they are needed.

Depending on a global cholera vaccine repository is a serious structural failure for Africa that undermines health sovereignty. 

A continent that bears a high cholera burden should not have to “apply” for lifesaving vaccines while outbreaks are already spreading.